Handle-stop for railway car side doors



Dec. 19, 1933. A. E. SMALL HANDLE STOP FOR RAILWAY CAR SIDE DOORS FiledJuly 18, 1930 lnvemor: ArflulfE $122211 Allarne Patented Dec. 19, I935luzrlzu'r OFFICE HANDLE-STOP FOR RAILWAY CAR SIDE DOORS 1 Arthur E.Small, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Railway Metal Products Company,Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application July'18, 1930.Serial No. 468,880

I .5 Claims.

:This inventionrelates to a railway box car having a door opening in aside wall thereof and a slidable doorarranged to close the opening Sucha door is supported by hangers from a track positioned above the door orby brackets slidablyengaging-a track positioned below the door or bybrackets mounted on the car below the door, which engages. tracksecuredto the door. Such hangers and brackets are usually provided withanti-friction rollers.

The object of the invention is to mount a han v dle upon the door sothat when being used to move the door the handle clears the brackets andallows free movement of the door, but when the door is in any one ofseveral predetermined positions the'handle, upon release,falls bygravity'into engagement with one of the brackets to retain the door insuch predeterminedposition; for instance, the engagement of the handlewith the-bracket may be used to retain'the door in' a closed position;in full open position or' in partially openand partially closedposition, the last mentioned position being used 'whenthe car istransporting perishable freight, such as fruits or vegetables; andprovides a certain amount of ventilation in the car.

In the drawing: Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the relation of the handleand brackets in closed and open position of the door.

Fig. 2 shows the handle, one of the brackets and associated parts ofthecar.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is similar to Fig. 2 showing the handle in another positionrelative to one of the brackets.

In the drawing the usual parts of the car are shown, such as side sill1; floor support 2; flooring 3; door 4; door opening 5; door lowerstiffener 6 and door lock '7.

The drawing shows a vertical car wall having a door opening therein anda horizontally slidable door 4 to close the opening; wherein the Ibrackets 10, 11, 12 and 13 are mounted upon the side sill 1 below thedoor and support the door in case of failure of the usual supports ofthe door and furthermore hold the door close to the car by engaging thedepending flange 15 on the lower stifiener 6. The U-shaped handlecomprises a central grab portion 22 and spaced apart end portions 17.The end portions are each pivotally mounted upon the car by brackets 18to swing only in a plane substantially normal to the car. When inelevated position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, the handle clearsall the brackets and allows free movement of the door. This position isthe natural one for the handle to assume when anoperator is moving thedoor, either from a loading platform or, from the ground. When releasedthe handle assumes the lowered position shown in solid lines in Figs. 2,3 and 4. When in such loweredposition a portion 17' of the handleengages one of the walls 20 of one of the brackets and prevents the doorfrom moving in one-direction, as shown in Fig. 4. When it is desired toprevent the door from moving in either direction the handle straddles abracket, as shown in Fig. 2, or may be designed to rest between portionsof the bracket. When it is desired to move the door the handle isgrabbed by the operator and automatically moved to the elevated positionso that it clears the brackets. After the door is fully closed thehandle automatically drops to the position shown in Fig. 1 and preventsthe door frommoving toward an open position. The usual front stops onthe car body prevent the door from moving in the opposite direction.When it is desired to retain the door in a full open position a similarrelation .is'established between the handle and one of the otherbrackets (11).

It may be desirable to position one of the brackets so that thehandlestraddles it to retain the door in completely closed position. Aplurality of handles may be used'if desired to hold the door in variousdegrees of openness. The bracket shown is provided with spaced apartwalls 20 and the handle is bent so that the grab portion 22 hasclearance all around it furthermore, the walls 20 of the bracket areslightly deflected at their upper part 24 to guide the handle intoposition.

The, accompanying drawing illustrates the preferred form of theinvention, though it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as itis obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of theclaims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In a railway car, a handled stopping device for use witha'horizontally slidable door, said device comprising a bracket mountedupon the, car below said door having spaced "apart walls, and a U-shapedhandle comprising a central portion and spaced apart end portions, saidend portions each pivotally mounted upon the door to swing only in aplane substantially normal to the door, said bracket being positioned inthe path of movement of said handle,

whereby when the handle falls by gravity to lowered position, said endportions engage said walls respectively and prevent horizontal movementof the door in either direction but when said handle is in elevatedposition it clears the bracket and allows free movement of the door.

2. In a railway car, a handled stopping device for use with ahorizontally slidable door, said device comprising a bracket mountedupon the car below said door having spaced apart walls with a clearspace therebetween, and a U-shaped handle comprising a central portionand spaced apart end portions, said end portions each pivotally mountedupon the door to swing only in a plane substantially normal to the door,said bracket being positioned in the path of movement of said handle,whereby when the handle falls by gravity to lowered position,

said end portions engage said walls respectively and prevent horizontalmovement of the door in'either direction but when-said handle is inelevated position it clears the bracket and allows free movement of thedoor, said central portion of the handle being positioned adjacent saidclear space when the handle is in lowered position, whereby said centralportion may be used as a handle.

v3. In a railway car, a handled stopping device for use with ahorizontally slidable door, said device comprising a bracket mountedupon the car below said door having spaced apart walls, and a U-shapedhandle comprising a central portion and spaced apart end portions, saidend portions each pivotally mounted upon the door to swing only in aplane substantially normal to the door, said bracket being positioned inthe path of movement of said handle, whereby when the handle falls bygravity to lowered position, said end portions engage said wallsrespectively and prevent horizontal movement of the door in eitherdirection but when said handle is in elevated position it clears thebracket and allows free movement of the door, said bracket so positionedthat when the handle engages the bracket as specified the door isretained in closed position.

4. In a railway car, a handled stopping device for use with ahorizontally slidable door, said device comprising a bracket mountedupon the car below said door having spaced apart walls, and a U-shapedhandle comprising a central portion and spaced apart end portions, saidend portions each pivotally mounted upon the door to swing only in aplane substantially normal to the door, said bracket being positioned inthe path of movement of said handle, whereby when the handle falls bygravity to lowered position, said end portions engage said wallsrespectively and prevent horizontal movement of the door in eitherdirection but when said handle is ,in elevated position it clears thebracket and allows free movement of the door, said bracket so positionedthat when the handle engages the bracket as specified the door isretained in closed position and another such bracket so positioned thatwhen the handle engages said last named bracket as specified the door isretained in open position.

5. In a railway car, a handled stopping device for use with ahorizontally slidable door, said device comprising a bracket mountedupon the car below said door having spaced apart walls, and a U-shapedhandle comprising a central portion and spaced apart end portions, saidend portions each pivotally mounted upon the door to swing only in aplane substantially normal to the door, said bracket being positioned inthe path of movement of said handle, whereby when the handle falls bygravity to lowered position, said end portions engage said wallsrespectively and prevent horizontal movement of the door in eitherdirection but when said handle is in elevated position it clears. thebracket and allows free movement of the door, said bracket so positionedthat when one of said end portions engages one of said walls the door isretained in closed position and when each of said end portions engagesone of said walls respectively the door is retained in partially openposition.

7 ARTHUR E. SMALL.

